Back when he was still a brash young whelp, Steve Earle proclaimed, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." Not one to take back his words, Earle, now 54, backs up his claim with a set of the Texas folk singer's tunes on Townes.

Though Metro Station's self-titled album came out last fall, the Los Angeles-based band's synth-pop single Shake It has taken off only in the last several weeks. Listeners of a certain age will hear the song's bouncy new-wave melody and immediately think of The Cars. "We're big fans of The Cars, The Cure, New Order, Depeche Mode," says singer/guitarist Mason Musso. "We do bring a very '80s element to our music."

Traditional Catholics hungry for the age-old and familiar Latin Mass of their youth, hope this means the elaborate rite will be restored and inspire new generations of Catholics with a liturgy four centuries old and laden with formal beauty. But experts aren't so sure this will inspire more Mass attendance.